


Jealousy at its Finest

by that_squishy_robot



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Din is just vibing at this point, Fake Marriage, Jealous Luke Skywalker, Leia is the only person with their head on right, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Misuse of the Force (Star Wars), except it's not Luke and he is very much pissed off about the situation, grogu is having a great time, original side characters that are just there to drive the plot, we're just here to have fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:13:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29036778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_squishy_robot/pseuds/that_squishy_robot
Summary: Din suddenly gets engaged, and Luke realizes how much he never wanted their lives to change.Fake engagement AU, where Din pretends to be engaged to someone for a contract and Luke thinks it's real.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 162
Kudos: 378





	1. Chapter 1

Din made it a hobby to not take contracts from royalty, government officials, or politicians. Really just rich people in general, excluding Leia. They were just always troubled. Nothing was ever as straightforward as it should be. 

Case and point, his current situation. Din’s not even sure why he’s here honestly. Sitting across some doe eyed prince, on a planet he hadn’t even heard of until yesterday. The guy had to be around the same age as Luke, though much less sarcastic. Yet much more obnoxious which really said something.

Speaking of Luke, he should call him and Grogu. It had been six hours since they had last spoken, and Din was starting to worry that they had burned down the Jedi temple… again.

The prince of Topniku smiles at him, and Din hates to say that at some point he would have been his type. Now his type was blonde Jedis who have a knack for getting themselves into trouble.

“So why exactly did you specifically hunt me down?” Din asked.

The prince promptly ignored his question to answer a whole different one. “Look our government is fucked.” He said bluntly.

“OK…”

“We fucked up and now the republic doesn’t want us. Which is fine from a financial standpoint. We have a great economy and trading system. What we don’t have is a royal guard, or a well-trained military. Honestly we’re lucky to have not been attacked yet.” The prince just kept talking. “I’ve gotten word that this isn’t going to be the case for much longer. Someone has hired assassins. At least from what my intel tells me. We believe they are going to kill me at my inauguration into being king, then send people in to take over.”

“So, you want a bodyguard?” Din asked, tilting his helmet to the side.

“Sort of… I need a fiancé.”

And Din was leaving. 

“Wait, no. Not like that. Even though I am sure you are a very handsome man under the armor, I don’t actually want to marry you.” The prince said quickly. 

Was it treason to shoot the prince of a planet you had no affiliation with? It probably wasn’t treason.

“It will be for a few weeks before my inauguration. See if the assassins think I have a Mandalorian bodyguard, they might back off and wait for you to not be around. But if they think you’re always going to be around, it will hold them off long enough for us to get the Republic’s help.

“That is not in the description for being a bounty hunter.” Din said, glaring down at him.

“Name your price. Nothing is too high!”

“Money is not the issue here.”

“What about a ship? That thing you arrived here on, can’t be comfortable.”

“You don’t have a ship here that I want.”

“Bounty hunters like pre-empire ships, right? What if I could not only get you one, but also have it fixed up to be better than new? I bet the sleeping quarters would be better than the bedrooms in this palace.” The prince said quickly.

That… Actually, sounded like a decent deal. At the rate he was going, there was no way he was getting a new ship anytime soon. Much less one that was comfortable and functional. Gods he missed the Razor Crest. If he still had that ship, he could be at home with his kid.

Would a job like this really be that bad? All he had to do was show up and look threatening. Din’s done worse for a job. At the very least this one wouldn’t have him trekking through a hot desert for days on end.

“Fine, I want proof you’ve procured a ship, and I want to meet your mechanics.”

“Of course!” The prince exclaimed. “Ok so we're going to have to be seen around the city a few times before I make the announcement. It will be more realistic if the tabloids are spreading rumors. We should probably make some public appearances as well. I’ve managed to bug Senator Organa enough for an invite to the banquet she’s holding.”

This was a bad idea. A really bad idea. Din was going to regret this. “I’m not appearing in any announcements.”

“That’s perfectly fine. In Fact, I think it adds to the intimidating Mandalorian thing.” The prince was too enthusiastic. “I’ll prepare a room for you. We’ll talk about our public appearances tomorrow.”

Din feels vaguely ill. Like he’s just sold his soul for a nice ship. The thought almost sends an uncomfortable shiver down his spine. It was fine. This was fine. It was for himself and Grogu. They deserved a nice ship to live in.

~~~  
Luke frowned. Din was going to kill them… No. He was going to kill Luke. The most Grogu would get is a lecture telling him not to be reckless.

He used the force to pick up another bucket of water, to splash over the now charred brick wall. It wasn’t completely his fault. Grogu had dared him to do it. How was Luke supposed to know that, yes the force can move fire. It was just very difficult to control. Give him a break. He’d barely been doing this whole Jedi thing ten years.

Just as the smoke finally cleared, Luke’s communicator started to buzz in his pocket, with a call from Din.

Fuck.

He was actually starting to worry the man was force sensitive. Din always seemed to know when something was going wrong.

Turning away from the poor wall he destroyed, Luke answered the call and was presented with a small hologram of Din. “Hey! Look who managed to survive another contract!” Luke exclaimed, making sure to hide his guilt the best that he could. 

“That unfortunately seems to be the case. How’s the kid?”

_Well, he’s either slightly traumatized or a budding arsonist. I’ll let you know when I find out._

“Great! We worked on meditation this morning, instead of chasing poor innocent creatures.” Not a lie. They went back to learning how to meditate two weeks ago. Din had even joined in. Unfortunately, both Grogu and his father had very short attention spans and had started to terrorize defenseless creatures instead. 

If beckoned by Din’s voice, Grogu ran over and lifted his arms to be picked up. Luke obliged and sat him on his shoulder.

“Burrr. Burr.” Grogu cooed excitedly, trying to grab at the holo.

Din laughed lightly, his voice instantly softening into the voice he only used with his kid. “How ya doing kid? Giving Skywalker hell for me?”

Grogu practically exploded into a series of chirps and purrs that not even Luke could decipher. But they made do.

“Well I’m glad you're still enjoying Jedi school.”

Grogu cooed happily in agreement.

Din turned his attention to Luke, after a moment of silence. “Skywalker.”

“Hm?”

“Why is my kid covered in soot?”

Luke turned to look at Grogu, who was in fact covered in black splotches of soot. Specifically, around his mouth where he had probably tried to eat a half-burned stick or something.

“Huh? What I can’t hear you. I think the holo’s breaking up. We’ll call you later!” 

“Don’t you dare.” 

And Luke hung up.

“Well. I’ve lived a good life… Wait no I haven't. This isn't fair.” 

Grogu cooed at him from his shoulder. 

“Oh no. You don’t get to act all innocent. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

The only response Luke got was a series of mischievous giggles. If he didn’t know any better, he would think the child was trying to get him killed. Grogu always knew how to get him in trouble.

“Well, let's get you cleaned up. We can scrub the wall later. I do mean we. This was your idea.”

~~~

Din didn’t like this. Luke was right. He should have taken a break from bounty hunting until Grogu was older. But no. He had to get off the planet once in a while. Couldn’t just stick to shooting targets like everyone else. Now he was in a major city, with a prince hanging off his arm. There were so many people in the streets that it almost made him feel sick. He fucking hated crowds. Look. Din knew he wasn’t the best person, but no one deserved this. If he needed to be punished for something, stick him in the desert and make him fight imps with nothing but a rock. He could do that. It would be easy compared to this.

“This is going well. A few more appearances like this, and the banquet will sell this story perfectly.” Prince Castor Zeth said.

Din was really hoping the assassins would strike now. That way he could fight his way out and be done with this. Maybe it’d even be fun. There were a lot of buildings he could use for cover, and the air traffic would make an interesting obstacle when using his jet pack.

Castor was talking again. Should Din be listening? He should probably be listening. He wasn’t going to, but at the very least the thought was acknowledged. 

Huh. Maybe that’s why Grogu never listened to a damn word he said. No. That little gremlin had always been like that. The thought made Din smile from underneath his helmet.

Oh. Castor was looking at him and waiting for a reply. Well good luck buddy, Din didn’t hear a damn word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Denial. Denial. Denial.

“Grogu, please for the love of the force, put the poor frog down. It doesn’t deserve this!” Luke practically begged.

Like his father, Grogu did not listen to him. He shoved the poor creature in his mouth and swallowed it whole. It was times like this where Luke wondered if he was in danger the entire time he was training under Yoda. 

“Why frogs? I like frogs. Can’t you eat the grasshoppers that are destroying Leia’s flowers?”

“Bah!”

For some reason, Luke translated that into, _Trust me, I’ll eat those to._

“I’m going to tell Din to ground you.”

“Patuu!”

“You’re right. We both know that would never happen.” You would think that Mandalorians would be stricter parents.

A series of swear words and loud crash, broke up their conversation on Din’s parenting techniques. 

“Luke! Holy shit!” Leia shouted, shoving the door to the cottage open.

“Leia!! Child!” He shouted back, frantically pointing at Grogu. 

The child in question was already making his way towards his favorite aunt. Dubbed by Leia herself of course, because Grogu had more random family members than he could count.

“Please. Half of his family is Mandalorian. Kid can probably swear in seven different languages.” Leia said, scooping Grogu up and lifting him into the air above her head.

Luke rolled his eyes and went to make tea for the three of them. This looked like it may be a long conversation, and he wanted at least some sort of reward for it. “Why are you so worked up anyway? This is not behavior fitting of a senator.” 

Neither was slumming it on an uninhabited planet in the middle of nowhere with; two droids, a cute kid, a Wookie, and three reckless dumbasses. All of whom would be very lost without her. So, what did he know?

“So, you know that Prince from Topniku?”

“The one that was creepily obsessed with Din’s armor, the last time I dragged him to one of your functions?” Luke asked, taking a drink of his tea. The thought still made him laugh because Din hated anything to do with politics or crowds. He’d been miserable the entire time, and practically clung to Luke’s side.

The only reason he had gone in the first place, was because Luke had promised to help him work on that rust bucket, he called a ship. They hadn’t actually worked on it though. Instead they had gotten drunk underneath it and compared childhood traumas. 

“He’s engaged.”

Luke raised an eyebrow, as he took another drink. Leia must hate him because she found just the right moment to…

“To the king of Mandalore.”

Luke was choking. He was going to choke to death on his favorite tea, because his twin sister was a menace.

“Is Din ok? How the hell did he lose the Darksaber?” Luke finally composed himself enough to ask.

“He didn’t.”

“What do you mean he didn’t? How else would…” No. Nope. No way. Wasn’t possible.

Leia, who already knew where his mind was going, pulled out a holo message. 

“Hello again, Senator Organa!” The prince said cheerily in the message. “I want to thank you again for allowing Topniku a place at your table, for the upcoming banquet. We have so much to discuss with you. I know it is short notice, but I was hoping I could bring my fiancé. I feel like he would be a great asset.” The communicator turned to show Din not paying attention, but rather messing around with one of his wrist gauntlets. “We look forward to meeting you.”

Luke was going to have an aneurysm. He still didn’t believe it. No. Topniku had Din captured and brainwashed. Fire up his x-wing, they had to go get him.

Leia shook her head, not needing the force to decipher his thoughts. “I already called. Told him to tap his helmet three times if he needed us to save his ass. Said he’s fine.”

“There’s no way he’s fine! Din’s not going to run off somewhere and get engaged. He hates people. You saw how long it took for him to have actual conversations with us.”

Everyone except Chewie. They were kindred spirits apparently. Han was still jealous. 

Leia shrugged. “Well love changes things… I think.”

“Din loves nothing but his weapon collection and Grogu!”

Grogu cheered in agreement.

“I mean it could be political. Din and I have been talking about what's going to happen if he can’t get rid of the Darksaber.” She tapped her cheek as if deep in thought. “It would make sense. You ally yourself with weaker planets, make them loyal to you and use their resources. I’m so proud of him. He definitely learned that from me!”

“No. He’s been brainwashed. Right Grogu? You want me to go get your dad.”

Grogu who heard nothing but _get your dad_ wholeheartedly agreed.

“Well, come to the banquet tomorrow and ask him yourself.”

This was a trap. Leia always knew how to get under his skin. She knew he hated those things. The only reason he agreed to go last time was because Din served as his improvised date.

“I’m bringing Grogu and letting him eat the entire dessert table.” Luke threatened. 

“Ok, but he’s wearing the robes I bought for him.”

“Not the purple one.”

“Absolutely the purple one.”

“Maf?” Grogu cooed.

“I’m sorry kiddo. This is the way.” Luke mocked in a poor imitation of Din’s voice.

Grogu smacked him in the face with a tiny clawed hand for his efforts.  
~~~

“Helmet stays on.” Din said sternly. 

“But…”

“On.”

Castor sighed. “Ok, how about the cape?”

“No,”

“This isn’t going to work if you are refusing everything that makes us look engaged.”

“That is something for you to worry about. I’m only here to be intimidating.” Which wasn’t even a thing when he wasn’t wearing his helmet, according to Grogu anyway. Din liked to think he was just as scary without the helmet, not that it would really matter.

“Ok fine, I’ll figure something else out. Maybe if we just show up together, people will put two and two together.”

Honestly Din didn’t care. He’d been on the planet maybe two days and already wanted to leave. New ship be damned. He missed his kid… and everyone else to a much lesser extent. Hm. Din never thought he’d be the type to get home sick, but here he was.

“What if I give you the family sword?”

“I can work with that.” At least he thought so, until Castor pulled out the ugliest sword he’d ever seen in his entire life. Why was the hilt furry? Why were there gems in it? You couldn’t fight with that thing. It looks like it would shatter at first blow. No wonder this god forsaken planet had no guard. Who would walk into battle with something like that?

Now Din missed his weapons collection back home to. It had to be better than the cape though. Hopefully? The cape was neon green. The sword could be hidden at least.

“Senator Organa blessed us with an extra seat. So, there won’t be a problem with you attending with me.” Castor said, laying the awful sword on the table. 

Din wondered if he should tell him he already knew that. That Leia had already called to grill him about the situation. He was pleased to know he could bring down her wrath when needed. She had very clearly told him that if something was wrong, she’d take Topniku right off the map. Din believed her. She probably wouldn’t even need a lightsaber to do it.

He hadn’t told her this was fake yet. To be honest it didn’t really matter. They were all used to him running off to do something stupid for a bounty. This at the very least wasn’t deadly… As far as he knew anyway. Who knew what rich people got up to in their spare time? Din certainly didn’t want to find out.

Castor has asked him not to tell anyone yet anyway. Not that Din actually cared, but he wouldn’t give this bastard the chance to weasel out of getting him his ship. Or the upgrades that were promised. Din deserved them if he was being dragged into this political shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke was not waiting for Din, and what's his face to show up. Absolutely not. He was just looking out the window towards the docking station because it was a nice view. Grogu did not share that sentiment, because he was trying to squirm away. Most likely trying to get to the dessert table. Leia at the very least had been right about the robes. The kid looked cute in his little purple silk robes. It even had a hood with cuts for his ears to stick out of.

“Patience is a virtue, young one.” Luke said in his best Jedi master voice.

Grogu was not impressed. Instead he huffed and glared up at him.

“You know, if my Jedi master told me to sit still, I would have.”

The kid continued to stare him down. 

“Ok. Fine you’re right. No, I wouldn’t.” Skywalker DNA and all. If you didn’t get into trouble, were you really a Skywalker?

After a bit more back and forth, the two of them reached an impasse. If Grogu could sit still and meditate for at least ten minutes, Luke would get him a whole plate of macaroons… As long as they didn’t tell his father about it.

Luke turned his head to stare back at the docking station. Would Din even take his ship? The thing was a piece of shit. Honestly, there was probably a chance of it getting shot down as soon as it broke the atmosphere. 

“When do you think your dad is gonna show up?” Luke asked, only looking back when he didn’t get a response. “Grogu?” Why was there not a tiny green child next to his leg? He stood up quickly, scanning the crowd. Luke was a dead man. He reached out with the force, telling Grogu to come back, only to get mentally shoved back. Kid knew he was doing something wrong, and didn’t want him to know.

Great. Grogu was lost in a room full of politicians. Din was going to learn how to bring people back from the dead, just so he could kill Luke twice. Maybe even three times at this point.

Alright. Operation find Grogu before his dad shows up and murders his teacher is a go. 

Luke excused himself through the crowd, doing his best to not abuse the force, and use it to shove people out of the way. A very excited squeal brought him out of that particular concentration. He turned to find Grogu on the far side of the room, being lifted into the air by Din. He could feel both of their force signatures. _Happy. Home. Love. Family._ The warmth of it almost made Luke forget he was walking towards his certain doom.

“Oh! This is your son?” Someone on Din’s other side said, just before Luke made it over… He was practically hanging off the Mandalorian armor, reaching to let the kid hold on to his finger.

“Grogu.” Din answered.

Luke was incredibly taken back by the fact Din let the man get within sixth feet of Grogu, much less letting them hold hands. This must be that Prince. Well, there you go. Din wasn’t going to let a stranger near Grogu or tell him the kid’s name. Perfect. That meant Luke could kick this guy’s ass, get Din back to normal, and then the three of them could squeeze into the x-wing and get the hell out of here.

Grogu hid his face when Luke finally walked up to them. Oh yeah. He was in big trouble. Wait till they get back. Luke was banning him from the swimming hole. No more murdering poor innocent frogs for the next week young man.

Luke put his hand on Din’s bicep, ever so slightly pulling him closer. He didn’t notice, and neither did the Prince who had his arm linked with him. Grogu seemed to, however. He tilted his head, giving Luke a curious glance. 

“I see you lost my kid again.” Din said in a very unimpressed voice. 

Oh right. Luke forgot he was in trouble too. Well hopefully he can win back his favor by getting them out of here. “In my defense. He is just like his father.”

That earned a chuckle from Din, and yes Luke was quite proud of himself.

“Oh. You must be Grogu’s teacher!” The Prince said, in what Luke could definitely feel was fake excitement. “I’m Prince Castor Zeth. It’s great to finally meet you.” Luke didn’t miss how the man specifically walked around Din, to place himself between the two of them.

Was that jealousy? Luke could feel the uncomfortable feeling coming off the man in waves. Was he actually…? No, that was ridiculous. Din was no help either, because the only thing he could pick up from him was how happy he was to see Grogu.

“I am.” Luke said eyeing him up and down. “Luke Organa.” The prince was wearing the gaudiest yellow get up he’d ever seen. Yellow. Not gold. The two of them had to be around the same age. That’s where their similarities ended, however. Because the prince had jet black hair, and green eyes. The bastard was also taller than him, not that it mattered or anything. He didn’t know how much Din had told him about the Jedi or Grogu’s training, but there was no way Luke was telling him anything.

“You’re related to Senator Organa?”

“She’s my sister.”

“Oh! Din, why didn’t you tell me you had connections to the republic… Din? Darling?” The prince looked around confused. “Now where did he run off to?”

Luke hadn’t caught up to the fact that Din had walked off, because his brain was still short circuiting from someone calling him darling. Darling?! Disgusting. And he was using his real name?

Absolutely not. Luke had to wait weeks to learn his name. He was pretty sure the only reason Din had even told him in the first place was because everyone had taken to calling him Buir thanks to Grogu… It had been an awkward conversation. Luke was just thankful that he wasn’t the only one.

“I imagine Grogu talked him into going outside. They both hate crowds.” Luke put on his best Jedi persona, to hide that he was annoyed. It was great having the ability to shift into someone else when needed. At the very least it was going to keep Leia from cursing him out for being rude.

“That does sound quite nice. I believe I’ll follow their lead. Would you like to join us?” Castor asked.

It seemed the prince had his own persona to shift into, but what he didn’t realize was that Luke could tell exactly what he was feeling. More jealousy. Castor didn’t want him anywhere near Din, and his invite was completely insincere. 

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I would prefer to take my chances with the macaroons at the dessert table.” 

“Of course. I look forward to seeing you again.”

Once Castor was completely out of the building, Luke found Din and Grogu at the table with a plate full of sugary snacks that made his teeth hurt just by looking at them. Luke took a seat next to them and glared straight through Din’s helmet. 

Din simply sighed. “What did I do this time?”

He was really asking that question? He was sitting here asking Luke what he did wrong. That’s it. Luke was gonna kill him. Say goodbye to your kneecaps Djarin.

Grogu threw a cookie at his head, and Luke was very ashamed of himself. What kind of Jedi can’t protect themselves from a flying dessert? Din was trying very hard not to laugh, and it almost made Luke forget his anger. Almost.

Fine. He wouldn’t kill Din. He would just lecture him until he died of boredom. 

Grogu raised his arm to throw another cookie. Ok this wasn’t fair. How were they supposed to get anything done if Grogu was always playing favorites? He and Luke spent just as much time together.

“I don’t know. Maybe got engaged to some stranger from a nowhere planet within a week.”

“Oh that.”

“Yes Din, that. What the fu…”

“Child.”

“What the force are you thinking?” Nope didn’t get the point across.

“I wasn’t really thinking. It just happened. He had a lot to offer.” Din shrugged nonchalantly. Like it meant nothing.

Luke grabbed the lip of Din’s helmet and forced him to look his way.

“Luke what are you doing?” He didn’t sound angry or confused. Maybe exasperated? Like this was something he just expected from him now. In all honesty he was right in that assumption.

“I’m making sure you haven’t been brainwashed.”

~~~

Din raised his eyebrows from underneath his helmet, because Luke was so damn weird ninety percent of the time. 

It was just easier to let him do his Jedi thing, and get it over with.

Grogu reached up and pulled at his helmet as well, wanting to be part of the annoy the Mandalorian club. Din sighed. “You two done yet?”

Luke huffed in frustration, after letting go. “ I don’t understand. Why are you just suddenly engaged? More importantly why him?”

“I’m not sure why you’re so upset. This certainly isn’t the stupidest thing I’ve done.” The stupidest, in Luke’s opinion, was when Din jumped off a cliff to murder a kraken like creature that had made Grogu cry. 

Din personally was very proud of that. The meat had also made a great stew when it was roasted over an open fire and paired with heavy spice.

He’d think Luke would be relieved that he wasn’t getting shot at on a job. That had to count for something. At least in his case.

“How about because you didn’t tell me? I thought I was your friend.” Luke accused.

Din tilted his head. “I don’t normally tell you. I didn’t think you really cared about this kind of stuff.”

Luke never typically asked about his jobs unless there was an emergency. He didn’t completely agree with the bounty hunting thing, after his run in with Fett years ago.

“I… wasn't aware you were involved with this sort of thing...often."

"What are you talking about? I leave the planet at least once a week." Din asked, confused. Luke complained about him leaving all the time.

"I know! You… Just never. I didn't think you were doing this." Luke gestured wildly at the rest of the party, only making Din more confused.

It was times like this when Din wished he could use the force. Just so he could understand what was going on with Luke, or anyone for that matter. Years of pushing down your own trauma and depression made it difficult to understand what other people were feeling. Luke was angry at him for taking this job, but he didn't understand why. It was easy and high paying. All Din had to do was show up and look pretty. Maybe he was mad because he'd been away from home for so long? Grogu always turned into an evil little gremlin if Din left for a long period of time. Granted to the kid, a long period of time was three days. Maybe he should go back home tomorrow night. Castor would be fine without him for a few days. 

Probably anyway. Din hadn't seen anything to do with assassins lately. 

"It's not that bad. I get a new ship out of the deal." He finally shrugged. "Better than the rust bucket."

Luke looked like he was about to argue with him. Din really couldn't understand. He knew how difficult it was to get a pre-empire ship. After all Luke had been helping him look.

"Darling, I've been looking everywhere for you." Castor said walking up to them.

Oh right. Din forgot he actually had a job to do here.

"I see you found my fiancé before I did." 

"Seems I still know him pretty well." Luke dismissed. 

Din looked between the two of them. So, they didn’t like each other. Was this what this was all about? Really? Maybe Luke sensed something off about him. Castor seemed like a decent person so far, terrible taste in weapons aside. However once again, Din still didn’t know what rich people got up to in their spare time. Castor could be kicking small creatures and eating in front of starving people for all he knew.


	4. Chapter 4

Luke was being professional. He was. There would be no way he would pick a fight with some jealous prince at a Republic banquet. No matter how much said prince annoyed him.

“I suppose it is only natural for you to know more about him at the moment, though I do hope to rectify that.” Castor said, turning to give Din a look that made Luke want to throw up.

A banquet was not the place for bedroom eyes.

“I’m sure you will.” Luke nodded, very much resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

The prince gave him a forced smile, before turning to offer Din his hand. “If you wouldn’t mind stepping away with me, Darling.”

“Luke.” Din said, standing up and placing Grogu in his lap. “Don’t lose my kid again.”

“If he wasn’t so much like his father. It wouldn’t be a problem.” It wasn’t what Luke wanted to say. No that would be more along the lines of _I’m not your babysitter._ But that wasn’t fair to Grogu. He loved the kid after all.

Luke leaned on his elbow, watching the two of them walk off. He certainly wasn’t glaring at them. “What do you think of your dad’s new friend?”

Grogu put down his cookie, and almost looked like he was deep in thought. “Bowora!”

“He does not have pretty eyes.”

“Mah!”

“That’s not fair, you're biased.”

Luke didn’t like the man at all. He made his skin crawl. The way he so casually touched Din and called him darling of all things. It felt wrong. However, he couldn’t exactly say that, because he had been accused of having a crush on Din on more than one occasion. 

He didn’t have a crush on Din, he was just mad the man ran off and got engaged without telling him anything.

Luke could gage who a person was through the force. _Did you think of that Din? Did you think of the fact that he could have been a great help in deciding if Castor was a good person or not?_

He looked over to where Castor had dragged Din off to. They were having a hushed conversation near the large windows of the room, standing way too close for what was appropriate at a Republic Banquet. 

Castor was probably leaving fingerprints all over the silver beskar armor, with the way he kept pawing at Din. How about he didn’t do that? Din spent hours polishing the damn thing.

… Now Castor’s hands were on the helmet, and Luke wanted to throw something at him. No one touched the helmet. Din only made the exception for Grogu, and sometimes Luke. It felt gross, Castor shouldn’t…

Oh. The Prince was on the floor now, rubbing his head from where the large curtain rod from the windows fell on him.

Well. That was an interesting coincidence that absolutely had nothing to do with Luke.

Grogu pointed at his dad and the Prince frantically. 

“I’m sure they’re fine Kiddo. If your father’s armor can take a light saber strike, it can take a curtain rod.” It hadn’t even hit Din honestly. Grogu couldn’t possibly care about a stranger like that. He wasn’t a traitor. 

Din helped Castor up and walked him back to the table to sit down.

“I have to wonder how something like that could have happened.” Castor said, rubbing his head. The chair he was about to take, promptly pulled away from him, and he slipped. He probably would have ended up with a concussion if Din hadn’t caught him from behind.

“You ok?” Din asked. 

“I think so. Must be all the alcohol. I never could drink much.”

Ok… That might have been Luke. By accident of course. He would never abuse the force to be petty. 

...Using it to fuck with Din aside.

Grogu reached out to pat Castor’s arm in an attempt at comfort.

“Thank you little one. Perhaps I should stay here until my bout of bad luck is over.” He reached over to take the kid’s hand.

Suddenly the glass of wine to his left fell and poured on to his lap. The prince broke off into another language that sounded a whole lot like swearing and jumped from his seat.

Ok. That time it was on purpose. Keep your filthy hands off his kid… Din’s kid.

“I- I should go and get cleaned up. I really hope that Senator Organa doesn’t see me like this.”

And he was off. Good riddance. 

Oh, and Senator Organa was certainly going to see him in that state, if Luke had anything to say about it.

“So, why did you two leave in the first place?” Luke asked when Din sat down. 

“He wanted to know if I trusted you. A lot of people are trying to kill him apparently.” Din shrugged. He plucked a cookie from Grogu’s hand and lifted his helmet to take a bit of it.

Grogu made the most offended noise he had ever heard from the child.

“Bet I’m your favorite now, huh?” Luke asked, bouncing Grogu on his leg.

The look the kid gave him was answer enough.

Din laughed, taking Grogu from him, and setting him on top of his own armored shoulder. “We have a bond. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Grogu and I have a bond through the force.” Luke defended. They were not going to have an argument on who the kid loved more, right? That was childish, and there were way more important things going on right now.

“I’m sorry, did you spend months going on adventures together?”

“That’s it Djarin. If you don’t think I won’t physically fight you right here, you’re wrong.”

And Din was laughing again… The sound made Luke’s face heat up. Normally Din was passive about most things, never showing a lot of emotion. It was times like these, Luke could imagine what he looked like when he smiled. He hadn’t seen Din’s face since the first time they had met. Sometimes he wished he could.

Luke huffed, crossing his arms and learning back in his chair. “Fine, but I’m still his favorite teacher.”

“That’s only until I start training him to use a blaster.”

Grogu tapped on Din’s helmet to get his attention. “What’s up Kid?”

Naturally the only answer he got was a series of chirps and purrs. 

“Uh huh, Luke?” Din asked, looking to him for a translation.

Luke wanted to tease him as revenge and ask where their bond was now… but Grogu was asking the question he wanted to know the answer to as well. “He wants to know when you are coming home.”

“I told Castor I was leaving tomorrow morning.” Din said, rubbing Grogu’s ears as if in apology. 

It wasn’t permanent though, was it? Din would have said something. Something like; _Hey, I’m breaking up with that asshole, and coming home._

Was it just going to be a common thing for Din to only be home for a few days? Was he going to make his home on Topniku now? Luke hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Their little planet in the middle of nowhere wouldn’t be Din’s home anymore. Not if he was married to the prince of another planet.

What about Grogu? He needed to stay with Luke to train… but afterwards. The kid didn’t want to be a Jedi. At least as far as Luke could decipher from him. Often Grogu imagined himself in tiny Mandalorian armor, identical to his father’s.

Honestly it was understandable after everything he went through. However, Grogu enjoyed learning how to use the force, and Luke liked teaching him.

He hadn’t told Din yet. It was selfish of Luke to hide that from him, but there was a part of him that worried he would take Grogu and leave. Now it was even worse, because they didn’t have any reason to stay if Din was getting married. The two of them would leave to live on Topniku with Castor.

After this was all over, would Din and Grogu even stay in contact with him? Luke loved the both of them. Grogu was his first student, and Din one of his closest friends. Often if either of them were off planet, they would talk on the holo coms.

Plus, they went on so many adventures together. Anytime Luke had to leave for something important, Din would be right there with him. Whether he was charging into a fight or looking for Jedi artifacts. If it wasn’t dangerous, Grogu would be taken along for the ride.

“I should go and make sure he didn’t fall on anything else and get hurt.” Din sighed. He stood up, Grogu still on his shoulder, to go find Prince Pretty Boy. Leaving Luke alone at the table.

This place made him feel miserable. If Luke had to watch Din and Castor hang all over each other any longer, he’d be sick. It was probably best to get in the X-wing and go home… After Din came back with Grogu. He wasn’t letting the kid go anywhere near Topniku, until he had a better understanding of who Castor was. No matter what Din says.

As Luke stood up, someone was thrown through the glass doors of the banquet hall. Din walked through the shattered remains of it, holding a blaster in one hand and Grogu in the other. Huh. Ok. It looked like he wasn’t going anywhere after all.  
~~~

Din stood holding his blaster at Castor’s would be assassin. At least he thinks. The situation is a bit confusing at this point, and he wants to go home.

One moment he’s walking in on a half-naked Castor trying to get the stain out of his robes, the next someone is breaking through the window and trying to cut him open with a knife. At least this banquet was a bit more interesting now.

Leia’s henchmen, (as Luke would call them) picked up the assassin and forced him into a chair.

“Can someone please tell me what language he’s speaking, so I can figure out what the hell is going on?” Leia groaned, rubbing her head.

Luke and Castor came to stand at his sides, and suddenly everyone was looking at him. 

“Why is it, every time we meet some criminal, you think I can speak their language?” Din huffed, an annoyed edge in his voice.

“Can you understand him?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes… It’s still rude to just assume I can understand all criminals.” He turned to the man cuffed to the banquet chair in front of them. “He’s speaking Balkan. I’m not completely fluent, but I know enough to get by.”

_“Who are you working for?”_ Din asked.

_“No idea, but they sure as hell pay well._ The assassin laughed. Din wanted to punch him.

_“You’ve got to have something. A bounty puck?”_

_“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. You mandos are always taking out all the well-paying jobs.”_

Well he had a point there. They weren’t going to get anywhere like this. What they needed to do was get away from the crowd and give him a few minutes with this guy. He could make him talk, if given the opportunity. 

“No.” Luke said off handedly.

“Stay out of my head.” 

“I’m not in your head, I just know you. You’re not threatening to cut off any body parts.”

“What about…” Din started only to be cut off.

“Touch the flame thrower and I’ll have R2 dismantle it.”

“Well, I can’t get any information out of him without threats of bodily harm.” He never got to have any fun anymore. It was always _this is not the Jedi way_ or whatever excuse Luke could come up with. Of course, it wasn’t the Jedi way. It was the god damn Mandalorian way.

“Perhaps it would be better to have him taken to Topniku and interrogated there. I can have my advisors take care of him.” Castor said, if trying to keep the peace.

Leia sighed, rubbing her temples. Sometimes he felt bad that she had to deal with all of them. If they constantly gave him headaches, he couldn’t imagine what happened to the person who was in charge of all of their brain cells. “Fine. Just get him out of here. We’re going to have to keep you off that planet though. If they were bold enough to strike with enough guards to take out a small army, then who knows what they would do with none at all.”

Well at least Din could go home and sleep in his terrible tiny ship. The palace was way too comfortable, and he was starting to miss the cramped enclosure of his bunk in the rust bucket.... As well as seeing Grogu’s tiny hammock above him.

“Hey, you can’t just send people to my planet without asking me.” Luke argued.

“You don’t own the planet, Luke.” Leia noted.

“But the temple…”

“Will be fine.”

Luke opened his mouth to argue, but quickly shut up when Leia glared at him.

Din really wished he had that ability.


	5. Chapter 5

Din and Castor hadn’t made it to _Luke’s Planet_ until the next morning. It had been a very long process of getting things settled on Topniku and making sure they weren't followed. Din was going to crash as soon as he made it back to his bed. He would get the prince settled, say hi to Grogu, then sleep for the next twelve hours. He deserved it. This was one of the most exhausting jobs he’s ever done, and he was hardly doing anything.

“So… This planet is mostly jungle I see.” Castor said as they were entering the atmosphere. 

It was early enough in the morning for the fog to have rolled in, making the planet seem more dreadful than it actually was. During the day it was pretty nice. 

“Mostly.” Din shrugged. He and the others had taken to living in one of the abandoned villages that were scattered among the small planet. Theirs surrounded a small Jedi temple that Grogu and Luke trained at… and tried to burn down occasionally.

Luke and everyone else lived in the small cottages that lined the inner village, while Din and Grogu lived in his ship.

Din had told Luke it was just more comfortable since it was basically his home. In reality the emptiness of the village and cottages just creeped him out. He’d seen Grogu babbling to thin air one to many times for this place to be comfortable. Of course, Din would not be admitting that to anyone.

Castor sighed, looking over the village as they landed. “Lovely.”

Luke was already waiting for them, with Grogu perched on his shoulder.

As soon as Din walked out of the ship, Grogu started to squeal, and took off after him as fast as his little legs could carry him. He met the kid halfway and scooped him up with a toss in the air. It felt good to be home.

Castor reached out to hold Grogu’s tiny hand. “If it’s not a problem, I brought him some treats from back home. I thought he might like to try them.”

Before Din could say anything, Luke cut in. “He’s already eaten two frogs and a grasshopper.”

Grogu was not impressed with his comment and made an offended hiss. Which was understandable, the kid loved… well anything the was vaguely edible really.

“Perhaps just a cookie then? I used to love them growing up.” Castor offered again.

Grogu looked up at him with his big dark eyes, and Din knew he had to make a decision. Either Luke or Grogu wouldn’t be talking to him for the rest of the day, based on his choice.

“Alright Kid. You can have one, and after you have to promise to work on your meditation with Luke.” Sorry Luke, Grogu just had the better puppy eyes.

Grogu squealed in agreement, tapping his helmet with tiny claws.

“You’re spoiling him.” Luke sighed.

“I’ll start telling him no, when you do.” 

“...Fair…”

Grogu happily took his reward, shoving the entire cookie in his mouth at once. It earned him a panicked gasp from Castor.

“Kid’s fine. He just does that sometimes.” Din shrugged.

Once finished with his cookie and getting crumbs all over his father’s favorite cape, Grogu practically exploded into a series of happy purrs and chirps directed at Luke.

“Ok. Ok. I’ll tell him.” Luke smiled, reaching over to pet Grogu’s head. 

Said smile faded as soon as he turned to Castor. “Grogu really likes the cookie. He formally requests one…”

“Bah!”

“Sorry, two dozen.”

Grogu reached over to Castor, asking to be held. Din should probably be worried how trusting Grogu became when there was food involved. They should probably talk about that.

Grogu eventually became too wiggly, and Din eventually let him go to Castor. If he tried anything, Luke could just snap the man’s neck with the force. 

~~~

Luke could feel the veins in his forehead twitching. Din never let anyone touch Grogu. It had taken weeks for him to let him pick up Grogu without instantly going for his blaster. Which really said a lot, considering Din willingly let Grogu go with him when they first met.

How long had he known Castor? Definitely not to the point where he would let him carry Grogu around. Of course, that had to change after they got married… Married. That would make Castor Grogu’s dad. Oh. Right…

“Leia had me set up a cottage for you to stay in. Follow me.” Luke put up his best Jedi persona, so he looked more mature then he was actually feeling.

The cottage he had chosen was naturally the furthest from his own, and place where Din kept his ship.

“Grogu’s teacher said he ate a frog? Is that normal for his kind?” Castor asked Din.

“We try not to think about it.” Din supplied.

Luke more than anyone else. Because at this point, he thought Yoda had been some type of apex predator. He’s pretty sure that crazy old hermit sent him a few dreams about making human stew. Obviously fake… Hopefully fake. Since Yoda was a Jedi and all. 

The cottage they stopped at was in the middle of the village, next to a small religious building. So far Luke was pretty sure it wasn't Jedi, which made it just sitting out here kind of creepy.

Castor definitely shared that sentiment. “We will be sharing a place, yes Din?”

Actually, Luke had forgotten that Din pretty much lived on his ship with Grogu. The only times he didn’t, was when he crashed out on Luke’s couch after a long day. In full armor of course.

“We’ll work something out.” Din said. “I’m sure Grogu would prefer having a bed instead of his hammock. 

Grogu had the second room at Luke’s place. He only slept there when Din was off planet however. It mostly served as a place for his many many many toys. Leia loved her tiny green nephew and brought him a new toy any time she left the planet.

They walked through the door of the cottage, and Castor’s unease was replaced by distaste. “It’s quaint.” He said with a fake smile.

Luke grew up on Tatooine, this place was practically a palace to him. Although he supposed that wouldn’t be the same for someone who grew up in an actual palace.

“You’ll be fine.” Din said, giving Castor a light shove towards one of the bedrooms. “You won’t be here for long.”

Ah yes. Music to Luke’s ears.  
~~~

_You won’t be here for long,_ Turned into an entire week. Luke was practically fuming. First that meant he had to keep his and Grogu’s abilities under wraps, since he didn’t trust Castor as far as he could throw him. Second, it was ridiculously hard to get Din’s attention since it was always on Castor. 

Maybe that last part was a bit ridiculous, but Luke and Din had a system. They always had dinner together, they went on daily hikes, and would spar with each other once a day.

They hadn’t done any of that since the prince had arrived. 

Right now, the two of them were on the sparring field, practicing with Din’s spear. Castor was fumbling around with it, with a very tired looking Din trying to wrangle him into the correct position. 

“He never taught me how to use his spear.” Luke grumbled, leaning on his knees. 

“Luke, you can choke people with your mind. Why do you need to use a spear?” Leia asked, pausing the picture she was drawing with Grogu. The three of them were sitting out on the flat meditation rocks, Grogu and Leia were coloring, while Luke sulked with his knees pulled up to his chest.

“It’s the principle.”

“How?”

“I taught him how to use the dark saber.”

“Because he asked you to. Did you ask him to?” Leia asked.

“No…”

“There you go.”

“You know it gets real annoying when you start to bring logic into my thinking.” Luke huffed. He was glad Leia was back on planet. He had missed her company… When she wasn’t implying, he was an idiot anyway.

“Your life would be a lot better if you’d just admit that you were jealous and talk to Din.”

“I’m not jealous.” 

“Patoo.” Grogu disagreed, waving a crayon at him.

“You don’t get a say. You still shove me out of the way for Din’s attention.” Luke noted. Shove being a nice way to put it, because more than once, Grogu had used the force to simply pick him up and place him ten feet away.

“Mah.”

“I was not trying to take your place as favorite. We know Din loves you the most.”

Leia laughed at them, reaching over to pet Grogu’s head. “The kid’s got a point though. I give you one more day before you're using the force to toss Castor out of the way.”

Luke rolled his eyes. They were being ridiculous. Castor just rubbed him the wrong way. Why was a crowned prince not working to get better guard? Why was it all falling on Din? It had nothing to do with the way he looked at Din, or the way he casually touched him. 

Grogu finished his picture and waved it around to show off. It was a picture of Din, Castor and Grogu at what looked like one of the beaches this planet had. The picture had Din’s helmet off, with him wearing a big smile.

Luke suddenly felt his heart sink in his chest. He understood now.

~~~

“You’re never going to be able to defend yourself if you don’t bother to hold your weapon correctly. It’s supposed to be an extension of yourself.” Din scolded, not bothering to keep the exhaustion out of his voice. He had seen Castor trying to practice with the training weapons. The prince was doing so terribly, he felt he had an obligation to the poor staff being so abused.

Din had trained people before, and he could be patient. However, he was sure Castor was fucking with him at this point. There was no way the prince was listening to him. Every two minutes, Din had to come up from behind him to correct his form. If it wasn’t that, he was falling all over himself, causing Din to have to catch him.

Was he this bad when Luke was training him with the Dark Saber? Surely not. Granted there were moments he had purposely made moves that would end them on top of one another, but you know… He could still swing a sword right. Laser or otherwise.

“Apologies. This is very new to me. The closest I have ever come to a physical fight, was when someone tried to steal the family sword.”

Who the hell would steal that thing?

“Alright.” Din sighed. “Let’s start from the beginning, get into the starting stance.”

Castor did so and look at that it was the first thing he had done correctly so far during their session.

“Now try a simple cross counter attack.”

Suddenly they were right back to square one. Din wished he could rub his temples to get rid of his budding headache. He came up from behind Castor to put him in the right form. “Right, then up. Ok?”

“Ok.” Castor said enthusiastically. Instead of doing the very basic move correctly, he accidentally slammed the staff into Din’s helmet. In fumbled confusion, they fell together onto the training field. Castor right on top of his chest plate, probably getting a bruise in the process.

“Alright. Training over.” Din groaned, knocking his helmet against the ground. This was karma. It had to be.


End file.
